Tagline Contest Winner

It wasn’t easy picking a winner for the Tagline Contest. I received many creative, funny, and downright cool entries. I had to pick the one that best described me and my website. But after careful consideration, I have made up my mind.

And the winner is…

::drum roll::

Natasha Hayden with, “A Man from Another Time Exploring Another Universe.”

Her tagline will be added to my site, and she will receive a free autographed copy of my first novel, “Pandora’s Box,” when it is published.

But since many of the entries were so good, I have decided to list the “Honorable Mentions,” all of which I will use on the pages of my website, so be sure to go back and explore the site to find them.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Nick Hayden: “Down the wormhole…”
Keith Osmun: “Author, world-builder, and available bachelor.”
Amanda Luedeke: “Let there be legends.” (This sounds so awesome, I may use it as a title for a story).
Jeremy Sheer: “Where every entrance is a new destination.”
Sean Smuts: “Here there be stories.”

Now I will give out some Stan Lee-style “No-Prize” awards for the remaining entries.

MOST LIKELY TO APPEAR ON MY BUSINESS CARD
Bridgette Oakes: “Author, world-builder, pioneer.” (And I promise it will be on my business cards).

THE “WHAT-THE-HECK?!” AWARD
Christopher Michael Carson: ” The world is better without war and destruction in our lives.” (Seriously, dude, what does that have to do with my website?)

NERDIEST TAGLINE
A tie between…
Van Tilburg: “Bazinga!” (a line from CBS’s “Big Bang Theory”)
Sean Smuts: “Never tell me the odds…I already beat them.” (Funny, though you apparently missed the rule that said there was limit one entry per person. Were you submitting one for your wife, Becky?)

THE “COULD-HAVE-BEEN-HONORABLE-MENTIONS-IF-I-HAD-MORE-ROOM” AWARD (These may be used on my website, too)
A tie between…
Zach VanHuisen: “A plethora of galaxies beyond mere imagining.”
Laura Brooks: “Dive into the unexplainable, indescribable, world of Nate.”
Sarah Marchand: “A man with a pen and the heart to back it up.”

Thank you all so much for your participation! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

“Pandora’s Box” Release Date Announced!

I just received an e-mail from Absolute XPress, the publishing house putting out my book. They told me my first novel, Pandora’s Box, is slated to be released October 31!

That’s right–I’ll be published on Halloween. Maybe I should have a book signing while wearing a costume. That’d be hilarious. At least I won’t forget the day I published my first book.

Problems Fixed and New Short Story Posted (FINALLY!)

The issues I was having with the site have been corrected, and I have Wes Dekoninick to thank for it. If you ever need a website built or a guy who knows WordPress inside and out, give this guy a hollar. Tell him Nathan Marchand sent you!

You can check out his online portfolio here: http://www.gradientgraphics.net/.

So now you can enjoy the promised short story I wanted to post last week. It’s called “Baptized in Fire.” I wrote when I took the fiction writing class my junior year at Taylor University Fort Wayne. It was written for Writers’ Digest‘s monthly short story contest (sadly, I didn’t enter it). It was one of two stories I wrote to experiment with different elements of a science fiction universe I was conceiving at the time. Someday I hope to revisit it and make a series of books out of it.

For now, enjoy the story!

More Website Construction

I have someone working to fix the problem I’m having with splitting posts on this site. He has to run tests with a smaple post, so if you see a random book review appear and disappear, don’t be alarmed (or as they used to say in The Outer Limits, “Do not adjust your dial.”

Once that is taken care of, I should be posting a short story by this weekend.

New Poem Posted

Due to WordPress being a bit obnoxious, I have decided to hold off on posting a new short story for the time being. But fret not, readers! I will not leave you without new material. Below this entry you will see a new poem by yours truly: “A Man Out of Time.” I hope you enjoy it! (And please be patient on the short story).

A Man Out of Time

A Man Out of Time
By Nathan Marchand

I was born too late

I should’ve been born a millennia ago
During the days of knights
When a man distinguished himself serving God, king, and country
And won fair maiden’s heart with his chivalry
Because men living by honor were envied by all

I should’ve been born five centuries ago
During the days of Reformation
When men risked even death for the Truth
A Truth worth all the beatings, hangings, and burnings
A Truth that offered True Life to all

I should’ve been born two-and-a-half centuries ago
During the days of Revolution
When colonists banded together and forged a nation
When patriotism was a virtue
And examples of heroes left for generations to come

I should’ve been born seven decades ago
During the days of heroes beating back the darkness
When warriors died for the Dream or returned as heroes
When men were praised for sacrificial service
And defended the right of others to criticize their work

Mine is a time of cynics
When pessimism is the path to “enlightenment,”
Good men are sought for destruction, their virtue assassinated,
Heroes are shunned, their callings spat on,
And hopeless hearts are exploited

I am a man out of time,
A romantic among cynics,
A warrior among cowards,
A light in darkness,
Carrying the ideals of times past
Only to meet with Rejection
And give my heart this era’s bitter waters

Yet will I fight for freedom, Life, and ideals,
For God, king, and country
Never retreating, never surrendering until victory is won
Like the men who went ahead of me
Before my delayed birth.

I am a man out of time born at the right time

Short Story Delayed

The promised short story I was going to post has been delayed. Why, you ask? Technical difficulties.  I wanted to be able to split posts into multiple pages for easier reading, but after inserting the proper codex, it merely cut off my entry after what was supposed to be page one. After doing some research, I discovered that my WordPress theme doesn’t support pagination. I tried to add a code that would make it possible, but it still doesn’t work.

So as they used to say on TV, “Please stand by.”

Tagline Contest on Facebook!

I need a tagline for the site. But despite my best efforts, I can’t think of a good one. That’s where you all come in, readers! I’ve decided to have a contest to see which of you can come up with the best tagline. Go to my Facebook page to enter.

Here are the rules: 1) Check out the site to see what it is like. 2) Submit a one-line tagline on this status. 3) Submissions must be made between now and Sunday night at midnight. 4) Only one entry per person. 5) I will read them all and select a winner Monday.

The winner will have his tagline used on my website and receive a free autographed copy of my first novel, Pandora’s Box, when it is published in the next few months. (Send me your mailing address in case I don’t know you).

Have fun!

EDIT: THE CONTEST HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL FRIDAY, JULY 16, AT MIDNIGHT!